A Taste of True Love
by funnylove
Summary: Akane was abandoned by her parents and raised by the best pirate on the sea. But what happens when her fate crosses with Ranma, the son of her sworn enemy? AU
1. Chapter 1

**A Taste of True Love **

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: They may not be mine, but I sure do love them!

Chapter 1

The large, yellow boat rocked as water hit the sides of it. A white, pale lily flower was painted on both sides. The sails were embroidered with lilies also and a huge yellow flag was set on top with the word "Tendos" written on it.

Akane smiled widely from the deck. Her long, blue hair was braided into tiny braids that flapped around wildly behind her back. A yellow bandanna wrapped tightly around her head. A wide white ribbon was wrapped several times around her torso. The same type of ribbon wrapped around both her arms. A pair of dark red pants that was tied mid-center of her calf was toppled with a pair of white boots. A gold hoop earring could be seen hanging from her left ear. Her bright, brown eyes gleamed brightly from the sunlight. She turned her head around and looked at her crew.

"I told ya," she said. She pointed her finger in front of her. A small glint of shore could be seen from their boat. "Heh, we can never too far from land if I'm here." The crew below her clapped and cheered. Akane smirked.

She was of course one of the few talented navigators as well as the captain of this ship. Her father, Soun Tendo, was once the fiercest pirate on sea. He robbed hundreds of ships and was wealthier than anyone has ever been.

That changed when his fate brought him against Genma Saotome. He had not only heard about Soun's fame and fortune, he wanted it for himself. He sailed throughout the sea looking for Soun. Soun did not see Genma as much of a threat and so he did not bother to hide or do anything of such. When their ships finally faced off, Genma pulled a nasty trick. Right before the large battle was going to take place, Genma kidnapped Soun's beloved wife, Rei.

Soun loved her so much, more than life itself. He promised to forfeit the match and give all his treasures to Genma if he allowed the release of his wife. Of course, Genma agreed. After trading the two, Soun found out that his wife had been poisoned. She was going to die despite his efforts. He was devastated. Genma had tricked him for his treasure and now he had taken what Soun cherished the most.

Not long after the death of his wife, Soun found Akane. Her real parents had abandoned her. He took it on himself to raise her to become to best pirate that the world would ever know. But sadly, after just a short 8 years, Soun was captured. Akane was overwhelmed with grief. She was already a great pirate by then. With a few more years of training, she became the captain of her father's ship. (Soun was that of a father to her)

Akane frowned at the thought of her father. Though she didn't get the chance to meet Rei, she could tell that she was a great woman by seeing how much her father loved her. She's going to find this Genma Saotome and get revenge for her father.

**Author's note**: That's just the beginning. I really do have a great story going. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Taste of True Love **

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: They may not be mine, but I sure do love them!

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Chapter 2

The ship finally stuck shore. The crew cheered happily as they got off the ship. Akane smiled joyfully, her crew was her everything. She really loved everyone of them. She laughed as she saw her best friend, Dice, tripped over a barrel and fell flat on his nose.

"Clumsy, clumsy Dicey," Akane chuckled as she lent out a hand to pull him up.

Dice grabbed her hand . His mid-length white hair was tied tightly into a high ponytail with bangs that fell out to frame his face.He wore a sea-blue tank that matched with his dark blue pants that were covered partly by his mid-calf black boots. Black suspenders fell from his waist and black ribbons were wrapped around his two arms tightly from his wrist to the center of his arms. His green eyes fell upon Akane and smirked.

"Clumsy, huh? As if I haven't heard that before, Miss I'm-the-captain-but-I-can't-even-swim," he replied.

Akane growled. She detested it when someone mentioned the fact that she couldn't swim. Of course, living the life of a pirate and even more, being the captain, she should be able to swim, but sadly, no. Akane couldn't swim to save her own life. The crew knew how sensitive she was to the remarks so they stayed away teasing her, but Dice- he was a different story. Taking advantage of the fact that Akane was his best friend., he teased her whenever he felt the time was right.

"Dice," Akane clenched her teeth together tightly. Dice raised both his hands up as if trying to protect himself.

"Okay,okay," he said. "Sorry." Dice grabbed Akane's arm and lead her off the boat with the rest of the crew.

Akane took out a sheet of small paper. Her crew were looking at her for their daily chores.

"Okay, same rountine," Akane pointed a two toutfit with matching eens. The twins has similar black hair that was cropped short. One wore a black chinese outfit with red trimming while the other had on a red chinese outfit with black trimmings. Black bandannas completed their look.

"Salt and Pepper, get the food. Granny, you go with Yoe this time. Fetch some more weapons."

An old woman wearing a red kimono with a matching turbin grabbed a younger woman's hand. The younger woman grunted. Her long blond hair flowed around her back. Her purple jacket paired off nicely with her dark mini-skirt and high-heeled boots.

"Kin, take half of the crew and gather half of the things on this list. Viveal, take the other half and get the rest of the things."

A young man waved his hand for half of the crew to follow him. He had on a dark brown fur jacket that went over a white hooded sweater. White sleeves came down one third of his arm from the sleeveless jacket. He had dark blue pants with several pockets on the left side that went well with the heavy, black leather boots he wore. Yellow green highlights could be seen from his darker toned hair.

A girl smiled for the rest of the crew to follow her. Her outfit consisted of an pink shirt that only had one sleeve. It was cut up to the bottom of her breast. A short pink skirt was wore over a pair of tight black capris. A wide black belt with several holes hung from her shoulder to her waist. Her outfit was also finished with a pair of black boots. Her hair was so light, it looked almost white. It was all tied to one side and twisted with a thick pink ribbon.

"And me?" Akane turned to her side.

"You're coming with me," she said to Dice. He pretented to be dissapointed.

"Again?" he pouted.

"Of course," Akane smiled. "Let's go!" she dragged him toward the village.

"Let's see. What else can I get that the crew needs?" Akane asked herself while checking out the counters of supplies. "Soap? No, Viveal's getting that. Candles! Oh-wait she's getting that too."

"Kane! We agreed that for the rest of the week, you're taking a break, remember? No chores, does that ring a bell?" Dice said snapping his fingers in front of Akane's eyes.

"Clothes! I can get new clothes for everyone! Heh heh, they're gonna be surprised," Akane grinned.

"Clothes! Who said anything about clothes!" Dice agrued. Akane grabbed him and dragged him too yet another shop.

"Really Akane, we don't need any more clothing."

"Shush, oh look at this! So cute! I bet Granny would look so nice in this color!" Akane threw the cloth on Dice. "And this one! Love the texture. Don't you, Dice? It'll make a really nice shirt for Kin. His is all ripped and everything-"

"Kane, he likes his shirt like that. And I'm sure Granny wouldn't like this pukey green color-"

"Dicey, Dicey," Akane grinned at him. "Don't worry, I'll get you something nice too." Dice rolled his eyes. This could take all day. He wasn't a shopping kind of a guy.

Hours seemed to have passed and the stack of clothing got bigger and bigger as Dice leaned on the wall catching a snooze.

"Dice, hurry!" Dice snapped awake, dropping the stack. "Pepper? What are you doing here?"

"Forget that! Akane having a brawl with this girl. Hurry, we gotta stop them before it turns into a fight!" Pepper said.

"What happened this time?"

"Well-um me and Salt were getting some food and Salt saw this cabbage that he thought would make really good soup or something... anyway that girl grabbed it first and Salt really wanted it. He sorta knocked her-um on her head but she woke up seconds later and declared she'll kill him! Then Kane heard the agrument and she came running to rescue us." Pepper finished in a huff.

"Oookay... let's just go see what's up," Dice decided. They ran out the clothing shop.

"Akane!" Dice yelled when he reached the crowd of people. Two familair faces turned around, Akane's and Salt's. Two other unknown faced him also.

"And who might you be," the girl said cross-armed. The girl had long brown hair accessoried with a white bow. A short blue kimono with long sleeves covered a tight black short that reached mid-thigh. A pair of simple slip-ons were on her feet. "Another ally?"

"Ukyo, just give them the damn vegetable, I have better things to do than agrue with some dweebs," the young man next to the girl said. His black hair was pulled back into a long pigtail behind him tied off with a red ribbon. He had on two thick red belts that crossed a plain white sleeveless shirt. His red chinese pants went well with his white shoes.

"Dweebs!" Akane growled.

"Shut-up Ranma or I'll zip your mouth," the girl, Ukyo, threatened. "I challenge you," she pointed to Salt. "A match!" Salt smirked.

"I accept!"

Dice stared at them wide-eyed. Akane and Salt were both smirking while the Ukyo was puffing with anger. Ranma didn't seem to care and rolled his eyes.

'How do they get themselves into these kinds of things?' Dice thought in annoyance.

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**Author's note: ** Finally, I got Chapter 2 out, hope you all enjoyed it. Please please do review. oh- and of course, Akane and Ranma pairing!


	3. Chapter 3

**A Taste of True Love**

Here's the third chapter! I really wanna thank **Kohana** and **f-zelda** for reviewing. I appreciate it very much. It really does encourages me to write more. Enjoy my story!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: They may not be mine, but I sure do love them!

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Chapter 3

"Simple rules, whoever gets knocked out first loses," Dice explained. He signed as he noticed that both Salt and Ukyo were growling at each other. He raised his hand up to signal that the match was about to start.

"Ready, go!" Salt and Ukyo sped toward each other. Ukyo threw her leg to make compact with Salt, but he easily dodged it. He raced around her quickly and swooped his leg under her. Ukyo fell but got up quickly.

"It's simple. Salt's gonna win," Akane said with much confidence.

"Hmph, as if, of course my sister's going to win," Ranma commented from the side. "She was taught by the best, me."

"The guy has an ego, huh?" Akane smirked at him. "We'll see."

She turned her head to see Ukyo land a punch in Salt's guts. He coughed and grabbed her arm, swinging her in front of him. She twisted and continued with a series of punches and kicks toward Salt. He easily dodged and blocked them. With a sudden stike to the back of Ukyo's neck, she fell unconcious.

"Heh, told ya," Akane smiled widely as she made her way to congradulate Salt.

"Foolish woman, " Ranma mumbled. He also made his way toward Salt and Ukyo.

"Wake up, Ukyo! Wake up!" Ukyo opened her eyes.

"Ugghh," she rubbed the back of her neck. "I lost didn't I?"

"Duh," Ranma said, helping his sister get up.

"How did this happen? I mean, no one, no _guy_ ever beat me before!" Ukyo said frustrated. "Oooh, I'm gonna hurt that guy! Salt, is it?" Ukyo got up and headed toward the blackly dressed teen.

"Ukyo!" Ranma called behind her. She ignored him and kept walking.

"You!" Salt turned to faced Ukyo. "You Mr. I-beat-a-girl-and-now-I'm-all-that. You loser!" Ukyo slapped Salt and grabbed the cabbage from Akane's arms.

"Hey, he beat you! You can't take that!" Akane exclaimed.

"I can and I just did," Ukyo said sticking her tongue out. A punch went out and suddenly everything went black.

"Heh, she won't be waking up for a while now," Akane grinned and slapped Salt a high-five.

A hand grabbed Akane's arm and twisted her around.

"You can't hit my sister and get away with it," Ranma said still holding her hand. Akane's other arm grabbed mallet out of thin air and smashed it on Ranma's head. His eyes rolled back and he dropped unconcious as well.

"I can and I just did," Akane said mocking Ukyo. "Dice, grab those two. We're heading back to the ship." Salt and Pepper linked arms with Akane and walked ahead.

"Great, I have to carry them." Dice easily swung Ukyo on his left shoulder. Ranma on the other hand, was much heavier.

"I'll give those two something to pout about," Akane said evilly.

"That girl, she fought like a-a girl!" Salt and Pepper bursted out laughing. Akane glared at them angrily which shut them up instantly.

"Sorry," apologized Pepper.

"It's alright." Akane rubbed her stomach. "Let's just get to the ship, I'm dying of hunger."

"Hey Kane, shouldn't we throw a party," remarked Salt.

"A Party? What for?"

"Um...a party for the crew! Yeah, we do need some fun," Pepper explained.

"For the crew, eh? Alrighty then, you two, arrange it," Akane decided. Pepper winked at Salt. They knew that if it was for the crew, Akane would do pretty much anything.

It didn't take them long to reach the ship.

"Okay, do what you need to boys." Salt and Pepper nodded happily and ran off. Akane turned around to see Dice climping up to the ship. "Hey Dice, what took you?"

"What took me! You could've helped, but nooo. You had to walked off." Dice dropped the two bodys on the ground and stretched.

"Put it this way, you got a good work-out," Akane grinned. Dice laughed and hung his arm around Akane's shoulder.

"Heh, whatever, Kane. Let's get some chow." Akane lifted Dice's arm off her shoulder.

"Right after you lock those two up," Akane pointed to Ukyo and Ranma. "Don't want them escaping now, do we? I'll be waiting in the dining room." Akane gave a quick good-bye wave.

Dice groaned.

"Fine, I'll put those dang chains on them." Dice picked them up once again and headed toward to mutiple cages on deck. After chaining the two up, Dice headed to the dining.

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Ranma woke up to the throbbing of his head. His looked to his side and saw his sister next to him. By the looks of it, they were now being held captive. They were chained on a pillars. There were many captives besides themselves.

'Who the hell locked us up,' thought Ranma angrily.

"Ukyo, wake-up! Ukyo!" Ranma nudged Ukyo.

"No, just a little longer," Ukyo pleaded, still mostly asleep.

"UKYO!" Ukyo jumped awake, and so did many of the other captives.

"Lower it will ya," said a old man in the next to them. "It's loud enough with those crummy pirates."

Ukyo ignored the old man and quickly checked her surroundings. She tried to move her hands, but found they were cuffed.

"Ranma, we're chained," Ukyo said startled.

"As if I haven't noticed it," Ranma rolled his eyes.

"Mom must be so worried about us now," Ukyo said looking thoughtfully at the darkening sky.

"Forget mom, how're we gonna escape?"

Ukyo turned forward.

"It looks like they're celebrating something," Ukyo commented. "Look at all the decorations." The ship was laced with wide yellow ribbons and rows of white paper lamps were hung above them.

"Yeah, so?"

"So if we just wait after they tire themselves out from all the dancing and booze, we can escape," explained Ukyo.

"Hey that's a good idea, alright." Ranma leaned up against the pillar and crossed his arms. "So we just have to wait."

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The time slowly dragged by and Ranma felt Ukyo's head drooped onto his shoulder. The sky grew darker and darker and a few lamps went out. Finally, it seemed that everyone fell asleep.

Ranma nudged Ukyo and her eyes snapped opened.

"Let's go," he whispered. She nodded, knowingly. Ranma easily pulled tthe chain off his wrists. Quickly releasing Ukyo, they made their way to the edge of the ship. Ranma stuck his head out.

"Damn. Ukyo, we're out on sea, we won't be able to escape without another boat," Ranma said frustrated. "Ukyo?" Hearing no reply, Ranma turned around.

His eyes widened with surprise. Everyone had woken up already! Scranning through the crowd quickly, he noticed some familiar faces.

"You!" Ranma pointed to Salt, who was holding Ukyo. "You're that kid at the market." He looked around more. "And you!" He raised his finger to Akane. "You're that foolish woman!"

Akane rolled her eyes and slapped Ranma's hands away.

"You know that it's not polite to point," she said.

"Why the hell did you capture us for? A crummy cabbage!" he yelled angrily.

"We were trying to be fair, but this girl," Akane placed her hand on Ukyo. She shrugged Akane off. "She was trying to make a fool of us."

"Heh, the Tendo Pirates aren't to be made fun of by anyone," someone commented.

'Pirates?' Ranma sweatdropped. 'And not just any pirates, the Tendos! Oh Ukyo, what have you gotta us in this time.'

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**Author's note:** There y'all go, the third chapter. I'll try to update soon! Review! Review!


	4. Chapter 4

**A Taste of True Love**

Thanks you very much to those who have review. I do appreciate all the comments. I'm trying my best to keep updating my stories, but it takes longer than I think just to finish a chapter. Do try to enjoy the fourth chapter of my story!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: Oh how I love all the characters so much...but that doesn't make them mine...sign...

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Chapter 4

Ranma had heard of the Tendo Pirates ever since he was a young boy. It was said that there were three most powerful and deadly pirate ships that sailed the sea.

Of course there were the Tendos, they tend to be kind sometimes, but with legendary martial arts skills, it was quite simple for them to overpower any other ship. Then there's the Saotome Pirates. Not only were they greedy and barbaric, they were unforgiving. Whoever stepped on their ship was likely to never see light again. Lastly, there's the Amazon Pirates. They had quite a reputation for their herbs and poisons. Though they claim honor is their top prioriety, it's hard to see through the trickery ways they often use while battling.

"Two times you've made a fool of us, two times," Akane pointed out.

"Wha- what'd we do now!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Simple, you tried to escape." Akane snapped her fingers. A handsome young man around Ranma's age walked out. "Kin, put the prisoners in the cell." Akane turned around with her back facing Ranma. "Tomorrow they'll walk the plank."

"The plank! Hell no!" Ranma got into battle position. "You'll have to capture me first."

"Nah-ah," smirked Salt. "Raise a finger and she's dead," His hand held a knife that pointed at Ukyo's neck.

"Ranma," Ukyo whimpered.

'I could probably escape during the night, better than letting Ukyo get hurt,' Ranma thought.

"Fine." He dropped his hands.

Kin came around and tied up Ranma's wrists, quickly doing the same with Ukyo's.

"Move," he commanded, pushing the two in front of him, leading them below deck. Quickly reaching the cell, Kin shoved Ranma and Ukyo inside. With a quick slam of the metal door, they were locked inside.

"Happy happy day," Ranma said sarcastically. "Not only are we prisoners, we're gonna be drowning tomorrow."

"Stuff it, Ranma," said Ukyo. "It's not all my fault."

"I've never been so humilaited in my life," claimed Ranma, picking up some of the hay on the floor. "I was knocked out by a girl and then now I've been put in this god-forbidden cell! So much for being the best warrior!"

"We'll figure how to get out of this. Ranma..." Ukyo reached for Ranma but he jerked away. Ukyo signed and layed down. "Good night Ranma, it'll probably be our last."

"Hmph."

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The night slowly dragged by. Ranma woke up to the feel of someone poking him. He could see a cloaked figure just outside the cell.

"Huh?" Ranma crawled towards to metal bars. "Who're you?"

"I can help you and your sister escape if you'll listen to me."

"You're gonna help us? Heh, whatever you're planning, I'm not falling for it," Ranma said.

"Listen to me! Our captain is quite ruthless when it comes to her crew and respect. You've challenged both when your sister battle against Salt and when you tried to escape. I can help you get away."

"You're part of the crew?" Ranma asked. The figure nodded. "Then why're you helping us?"

"Ah... well... I just think that Akane's being unfair to you guys. I mean... she's making you walk the plank for such a stupid reason. You shouldn't be fish food just for what you did."

"Hey you're right! I totally agree! That lame captain of yours-"

"Don't push it! Akane may be harsh, but no one makes fun of her!"

"Uh... sure." Ranma turned around. "Ukyo, time to go." Ukyo's eyes flicked open.

"Wha... Where to?" Ukyo rubbed her eyes.

"This person gonna help us escape," Ranma told her. "No time to explain, we gotta go."

Ukyo nodded.

The figure unlocked the door and slid it open.

"It's going to be morning soon. We have to hurry." The figure quickly led the way out to the deck. "This way."

Ranma and Ukyo crossed over several sleeping pirates and came to a stop.

"Get inside the side boat, I'll untie the strings."

"I'll help, Ukyo go," Ranma commanded. Ukyo hesitated and then walked over to the small boat. After releasing the untying two large knots, the boat landed in the water with a loud splash. Ranma quicly looked around to see if anyone heard the loud noise. A sigh of relief left his mouth when he saw no one rose up.

"Come on."

Ranma and the figure easily jumped onto the boat below.

Ukyo smiled widely.

"Seems like we're gonna get away," she said.

"Yep," Ranma agreed, rowing with the two wooden paddles. He looked at the figure. "Thanks."

The figure lifted off the black hood to reveal a pretty girl.

"You're welcome," she said with a tint of redness on her cheeks.

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"Akane! Kane!"

Akane rose from her bed at the yell of her name and slipped on her robe. She quickly rushed out of the yellow room unto the deck. She saw that most of the crew had woken up.

"What wrong?" she asked. She glanced around. "There's no one attacking us?"

"That's not the problem, Kane," said Dice. "The two prisoners from the cell are missing and so is the one of the side boats."

"What! How'd they escape?" Akane demanded angrily.

"They had some help," Yoe commented.

"Akane, Viveal's also gone. But we found this by the cell," Pepper handed Akane a small note.

_'Sorry, Akane._

_I've never felt this way about a man before. I think it might be love at first sight. For the time being, I can't let this man die yet. Please understand. _

_Viveal' _

"Dice, set out my personal boat," Akane crushed the note in her hand. "We're going on a chase."

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**Author's note: ** I hoped you like this chapter, I do personally. Next chapter, I'm going to introduce Shampoo and maybe Ryoga. I'm trying to pair everyone off right now, but I'm having quite a hard time with some. I know for sure Akane's gonna be with Ranma, for like- I love that couple, but... Should Ukyo be with Ryoga? It would be a good pair but I thought it wouldn't be so bad if I paired her with one of my made-up characters like Dice or Kin. Viveal wouldn't be so bad with Ryoga neither... And Shampoo, who should she go with? Mousse? Oh- and should the Kunos appear at all? Some advice would be **so **helpful!


	5. Chapter 5

**A Taste of True Love**

I appreciate the advice from you all. Thank you so very much. I'm still trying to find out who I should pair with who, but your comments have really helped me along. I actually decided to only show Kuno in this story and not Kodachi. To tell the truth, I don't really like Kodachi. Her insane laughter is quite freaky... Did you know that her name means twin swords? Hehe, I learn it from a manga I just read recently. Anyways, read and find out what happens in this fifth chapter of A Taste of True Love!

(oh and most of the descriptions about the made-up characters are in chapter two, including Viveal)

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 5

"Akane, why don't you just send out one of our crewmates?" Salt asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be happy to help," Pepper added.

Akane shook her head, throwing the last of the things in her ship.

"I can't do that. I'm the best at navigating, meaning I have a better chance at finding them."

"I'll go with you," Dice voluteered.

"Sorry, Dice. Not this time. " Dice frowned. "You have to help the crew get to the Parsh Islands. I'll just catch up with you guys there." She gave him a tight hug. Releasing him, she looked at Salt and Pepper. "You guys mind coming along?"

Grins formed on their faces as they looked at each other.

"Of course not!"

After a series of hugs and sad good-byes, Akane, Salt, and Pepper got onto her small ship. This ship was painted similar to the large ship, yellow. It was quite bigger than the side boats. The white sails were also embroidered with lilies.

Akane looked at her crew.

"Come on, I'll see you guys in a few days." The crew's faces forced on smiles. Akane waved a quick bye.

"Put her down, boys," commanded Dice. Yoe started to slowly turn the crank, lowering the boat. Akane was about to set sail when someone jumped onto the boat behind her. Akane turned around.

"Kin?" She was surprised to see the young man. The crew membered poked out their heads, also quite surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll accompany you guys," he said. Akane seemed stunned. "I'll accompany you guys," he repeated.

Akane grinned widely and gave him a thank you nod. He walked ahead and took hold of the steering wheel. Akane waved once again at her crew.

The shouts of good-byes grew quieter as the small ship headed farther away from the large Tendo ship.

Akane walked to stand by Kin's side.

"It's nice of you to come with me," she told him. "Thank you. Your company will make this trip go quite faster."

A blush rose to Kin's face. He quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of it.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Okay, I'll go check out the map." Kin nodded. Akane walked off in the direction of the twins.

'Chill out,' Kin told himself. 'You ain't getting no good points with this shy act of yours.'

Kin turned around.

"Kane?" Akane lifted her head his way.

"Huh?"

"You're welcome." Kin's heart raced another beat as he saw Akane smile.

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"So your name's Viveal?" Ranma asked again.

Viveal nodded.

"And you're Ranma," she pointed to him. "And you're his sister, Ukyo."

"Yep, you got that right," Ukyo gave her thumps-up.

"You sure you know where we're going?" Ranma asked.

"Sure I do," Vieveal replied. "This boat won't hold us if a storm comes along so we should be heading to the closest shore, which would be Kastera Island. But, that place is full of creeps. The next closest shore would be Hadinde, so we'll go there."

"Um..." Ranma placed his finger on his chin in thought. "And how soon will be get there?"

"Maybe four, five hours."

"It's only morning so why don't we just head off to Umegota, it's not that far away. I heard the villagers there are quite nice."

Viveal shook her head.

"That's not a good idea. The captain, Akane, is the best navigator I know. She can find her way out of the ocean by just using the wind currents. Not many people can do that," Viveal explained. "I'm sure she's gonna follow us. If we can get to the island before she finds us, we could get a faster boat. Her ship, the Lily, can sail almost three times as fast as the Tendo ship. And the large ship-"

"The Tendo can go faster than this side boat," Ranma concluded. "So she'll easily catch up to us."

"Exactly."

"Okay, I agree with Viveal then. We should go to Hadinde," Ukyo commented.

"This Akane sure seems interesting," Ranma said.

Viveal smiled sadly.

"She sure is." 'And I left her for a man I hardly even know.'

"Don't worry," Ranma said confidently. "This time, I won't let her capture me."

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"Kin, head the ship northeast," Akane directed. "Knowing Viveal, I doubt she would go to Kastera. She hates those people too much. She'll be heading towards Hadinde."

"You're sure?" Salt asked her. Akane pondered on the thought.

"Almost positive. We'll catch up with them in maybe about two hours," Akane smirked to herself. "No way they can paddle that fast."

"I'll put up the extra sails," Pepper volunteered.

"Thanks Pepper. I think I'm going to finish my journal entry," Akane said.

She walked below deck to a small room. Akane pulled out the chair from the wooden desk. She reached to her side and pulled out a yellow notebook. A lily was drawn on it with the word 'Kane' written on top of it. Akane have had this journal for as long as she could remember. Whenever she felt depressed or something went wrong, she confined it her notebook.

Akane pulled out a feather and placed the tip in a bottle of ink. Her hand started writing and soon time passed by.

"Kane!" Akane snapped herself away from her writing. She looked out the window. The sea was rumpling and rain was falling hard.

'Damn, I lost track of time.' She closed her journal and quickly stuffed it in her waist. Akane ran onto deck.

"Akane, a storm's coming!" Salt yelled.

"I've noticed! Pepper have we seen Viveal and prisoners' boat yet?"

"We had them just a second ago, but this strong wind made our ship lose them," Pepper answered, putting his arm in front of him to block out some wind.

"Salt, put down two of the side sails!"

"Yes sir!"

"Kin, steer the ship east!" Akane commanded. She placed her hand on her forehead. "We're gonna have to take a stop on Kastera."

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**Author's note: ** I hope that I didn't make this chapter too short. In the next chapter, Akane and her companions reach Kastera. Who will they meet? What's gonna happen? All in the next chapter! (For those who are Akane&Ranma fans, don't worry, a chapter just about them will come up soon!)


	6. Chapter 6

**A Taste of True Love**

Again, I thank you all for the wonderful reviews! And of course, all of you are my bestest of friends! Now go on and read!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 6

The rain was getting heavy and the waves were getting stronger. The little side boat was beginning to fill up with water.

"How could there be a storm?" Viveal shouted angrily, trying to scoop water out of the boat. Her other hand wipe her eyes to clear her vision. "Just my luck!

"Ranma!"

Ranma turned around at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Help!" Ukyo's hand was grasping onto the side of the small boat, it seemed that she could easily fall off at any second.

"Hold on!" shouted Ranma. He reached out to pull Ukyo, but wasn't fast enough for she lost grip of the boat.

Ukyo swallowed a gulp of water as she tried to scream for aid. Ukyo choked and could feel herself being drifted away farther. Her attemps to stay above water seem futile for her arms started to give up on her.

Ukyo could hear her name being called but her head drop under water.

"Ukyo!" Viveal pulled Ranma's collar as he attemped to jump after his sister.

"What are you crazy?" Viveal yelled at him. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Ranma knocked Viveal's hand away.

"Let go of me!" He dived into the water in search of Ukyo. The waves were strong and so Ranma couldn't stay under water long. He popped up after shortly.

"Ukyo! Ukyo!" He looked around, but there was no sight of his sister. Ranma dived into the water once again, this time trying to go deeper. He desperatly scanned around, but with no luck, he rose above water.

"Shoot! Where the heck she she!" Ranma said worriedly. A hand grabbed him from behind.

"I told you it was dangerous," Viveal said. Ranma coughed up water on the boat. "This happens all the time when you're out on sea."

"But Ukyo-"

"If she's lucky, I highly doubt it, she'll be carried to shore-alive, that is," Viveal shrugged her shoulders. "There's even the possibility that someone rescued her, not likely too."

Viveal grabbed Ranma's arm.

"Don't you think about it," she said, holding him back from going into water again. "You won't find her."

Ranma lean back on the boat and signed heavily.

"Ukyo..."

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Akane grabbed on to Kin's held-out hand and walked off the Lily onto the shore of Kastera. She wiped her forehead.

"Since we're here, we ahould have a look around," said Akane. "The storm could of made them also make a stop here."

Salt and Pepper jumped off the ship and landed on the side if Kin.

"Alright," they said in uision.

"Take some weapons if you want, but be careful," Akane said. "I'll go with Kin to look this way."

The indentical twins nodded in agreement. They linked arms and walked off.

"Come on now, Kin." Akane waved for him to follow her. "We'll check the village first."

"Kane, this place is full of filth though," said Kin.

Akane grinned at him.

"Yes, but it'll be amusing."

Kin chuckled. Akane was never one to stay out of trouble.

Kin walked after Akane.

They reached the village quickly for it wasn't too far from shore.

Akane walked into a bar with Kin right behind her. The doors swung loudly behind them causing everyone to look at them.

Akane pulled out a scroll and pulled it open. It revealed a drawn picture of Viveal.

"Have any of you seen this girl," Akane asked, holding the picture up. Her foot pulled out a stool and she stood herself on it. "She's may be with a boy or a girl."

A large man with broad shoulders stood up.

"Forget them, honey. Stay with me, I'll find you all things you want," he smirked. He flexed his chest out at Akane.

She frown in return.

"Too bad, I already got myself a man. A much more able one," said Akane, jestering to Kin. She gave him a quick wink and turned back.

Kin noticed she was talking about him and he blushed a deep rouge.

"Girly man here," the man raised Kin's arm. The crowd of men laughed. "He's as thin as a stick. You need a real-AAHHH!" The man stumbled back, holding his wrist.

Kin had broken his hand in a quick snap.

"Told ya," Akane said. "Much more able." All the men from the bar rose up from their tables.

"Girl, you don't know who you're messing with!" one shouted. The bartender rushed to the back door, not wanting to see the on going fight.

The crowd of men circled around the two.

Akane bent over and touched her toes and strecth her back.

"Just what I needed," she said to Kin. "A good time."

Akane jumped from her stood and landed on one of the men. His head hit a table before he actually hit the ground.

"Well, he's out."

Akane's leg swung out against her uncoming attacker causing him to crumple to the floor. Her foot stomped on his cheek before she moved on to her next victim. Her hand formed a fist and she sent to the chin of the man in front of her. He went flying across the room.

Kin had pulled out his twin swords. He was having no trouble using them to cut the men close to him. Within minutes, he had a swarm of bodies surrounding him. He twirled his swords and threw one into the air. The sword came down into the handle of the first sword, forming a short but wide stick altogether.

Akane walked up to his side.

"Well, that's that! Let's move on."

They walked out of the bar. They only walked a few steps when a loud, "STOP!" made them turn around.

Akane groaned seeing who had called them.

"My darling tigress! It is you who beat up my men!" A man, maybe a year or two older than Kin, had his arms held out. His midnight dark hair fell to frame his face; a long pontail dangled from the back of his head. He wore a jacket with long sleeves that cut under his chest. A tan shirt could be seen underneath. He had on a matching pair of pants with pockets on the lower part. His black gloves made a good combination with his heavy boots.

"Get lost, Kuno," Akane said impatiently.

"Haven't you missed me? We haven't seen each other in ages," said the man called Kuno.

He attemped to hug Akane but her foot landed on his face before he could do so.

"As lovely as ever I see," he wiped his face. "I heard that you were looking for a girl." He snapped his fingers. Two men brought out an unconcious girl.

"I don't know if she's the right one," Kuno raised her face, "but I wouldn't hesitate to give her to you."

"The girl prisoner!"

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**Sea-chan's note:** I tried to make the chapter longer than usual. I'm sorry if the fighting scene was short, but I'll try harder to make it have more... ah-drama? Anyways, always remember to review!


	7. Chapter 7

**A Taste of True Love**

I'm trying to keep the characters from the actual anime still have some off the characteristics we've come to know. Like for Akane, I thought the mallet would come in good play. And Ranma, he's really never one to be so serious. Thanks to all who reviewed my last chapter! Kohana and Nefandus, you guys are the best!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 7

"Hand me the girl," Akane demanded.

"Ah, so she is the one you were looking for," said Kuno. "My men found her half dead on shore."

"Yes, now hand her over," Akane repeated, irritated.

"Not so fast, darling. Just give me a peck right here," Kuno pointed to his cheek,"and you can take her."

Kin growled angrily.

"Not in a million years!" Akane yelled. She threw out a punch that hit Kuno square on the nose. "Kin, get the girl."

He nodded and ran towards the two men. He kicked them both at the same time, making them lose grip of Ukyo's arms. Kin grabbed her and placed her on his shoulder. The men attemped to fight back but Kin took out both of his swords and pointed it at their necks.

Akane had Kuno pinned down and was trying to knock him out.

"Darling, you've become fiestier than I've remembered," Kuno said wiping his bleeding nose. He swung his leg forward and knocked Akane off him. She rolled off and landed a few feet away from him.

Kuno stood up and dusted his clothes.

"How about a deal?" he asked. "I beat you, I get my kiss. If you beat me, I'll let you get the girl."

"Hmph, I can get the girl even without your silly deal," Akane smirked, "but I do enjoy seeing you in dirt."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Kuno pushed himself off with his feet towards Akane. She quickly stepped to the side, barely able to dodge the kick.

"I take it you've trained," Akane said. She turned around and tried to stab Kuno with her elbow.

"Not much, but yes, I have," he answered, blocking her thrust.

The two battled while Kin watched from the sidelines.

'This guy has really built up his skills since the last time we met,' he thought.

Akane bent herself backwards to avoid the jump kick Kuno sent her way. Angered by the thought that she would have to kiss him if she lost, Akane took out her mallet that seemed to have grown for it was large. She swung it hard at the man in front of her, sending him flying.

Kuno was a second too late to dodge the mallet as it landed on his chest. He felt the impact pushed him through a wooden house. Kuno looked up to see a figure walking towards him.

"You... cheated...," Kuno said through painful breaths.

"I don't see how I did. After all, you didn't say weapons weren't allowed," said Akane. "See ya, guess the kiss is gonna have to wait." Akane walked back out of the broken house, with Kuno's coughs behind her.

"You ready?" Kin asked, Ukyo still upon his shoulder.

"Yep, let's go," she answered.

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Ranma stomach growled loudly as he made his way through the forest.

"I'm dying, so hungry," he complained, holding his stomach.

"Dang it," Viveal said angrily, ignoring Ranma for the moment. "Why did we have to drift here?"

Their small boat lost it's paddles after the storm so the two weren't able to lead to their wanted destination. It drifted all night but finally brought them to the shores of Kastera.

"I hate this place. It full of the most babaric of men. Ugh!" Viveal shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, and we have to find Ukyo." Ranma held his stomach, trying to stop it from grumbling.

"I told you already, there's a slight chance she made it," she told him.

"Well, I'm gonna have to try-"

"Shh!" Viveal cut Ranma off. "Look." She pulled some branches out of their view.

Ranma stared ahead and was surprised to see a young man about the same age as he was. He wore a yellow sleeveless chinese shirt with a high collar up to his neck. The waist of his black pants was wrapped with a black belt. Knee-high boots were wore with the tip of the boot yellow while the rest was black. His long black hair laid on the grass with a stripped badanna tied to his forehead. His eyes were close as he laid on the grass with his gloved hands behind his head. A long sword was seen by his side.

Viveal let the branches fall back to place.

"Let's go. I don't want to deal with him."

"No," Ranma agrued raising the branches once more. "I could take him on anytime." Ranma was surprised to see the young man was gone.

"You could take me on anytime, huh?" a voice asked. Ranma quickly spun around. The young man they saw seconds ago stood in front of them.

"Of course I could," Ranma answered. His feet split into battle pose.

"Heh, let's see you try," he said.

The man threw his sword on his back and thrusted toward Ranma. Ranma held out for arm and blocked the attack. A series of blocks and punches continued for the two until Ranma swipped out his feet. Unaware, the man fell down, but with a quick push with his hands, he was back on his feet again.

"Not bad," he said.

"You're not too shabby yourself," Ranma answered back.

"Ranma, be careful," Viveal cried from behind him.

"Ranma? Ranma Saotome?" the young man asked curiously.

Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" The man smiled widely.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Ryoga Hibiki," he said. Ranma's eyes grew wide and a large grin came to his face.

"What have to been up to man?" Ranma slapped Ryoga on the back. Ryoga hung his arm around Ranma.

"Nothing much."

Viveal looked at them, ouviously befuddled.

"Hey, come here," Ranma said. "Meet Viveal."

Ryoga smiled and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"Ryoga here is a pirate hunter," Ranma said, pointing to the man.

Viveal turned around quickly to race away. Ranma pulled her back.

"No worries, Ryoga here is my best friend, know him since I was a petit kid. He only catches those pirates with prices on their heads."

Viveal still seemed shaken and hid behind Ranma's back.

"So what brings you here?" Ranma asked.

Ryoga took out a scroll and let it drop from his hand.

"Been looking for this pirate," Viveal's eyes opened widely in horror. "Fifty thousand pounds just for the head."

"Hey I know who this is," Ranma said pointing to the picture. "It's-"

"Akane... " Viveal finished.

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**Sea-chan's note: ** I really trying to update this story as much as possible so I'll probably be putting the other two that I've started off. I just remembered by writing this chapter that there are still the other two other Tendo sisters I have yet to write about, **Nabiki and Kasumi**. Should they appear at in this story at all? Of course Shampoo and Mousse are coming up soon, but I'm not too sure about the two sisters. Are they or are they not nessecary? I'll be keeping my story updated. : )


	8. Chapter 8

**A Taste of True Love**

Sorry to those who wanted Ranma to be able to turn into a girl. I actually don't like it when he does, even in the manga so I'm going to say that he's not going to become a female anytime soon. Especially since they say that Ranma's girl form is prettier than Akane. I totally have to disagree with that. And also, sorry if it seems like I'm making Ranma too weak. He isn't actually.

Since number 8 is my favorite number and this is chapter 8, I decided to give out my thanks to all who have so far reviewed my story.

Priestess Kohana: I really appreciate you reviewing all my chapters. Did you know you were my first reviewer? Anyways, your great comments help me a long way. Tell me when you update your story!

f-zelda: I hope you did read more chapters!

nefandus: Oh- you give me such great comments. I enjoy reading your every reviews. I espiecally appreciate you answering to my questions. Thank you: )

-Oleander-Tea-: Thanks for the tip. I read your story and it's great. I'm trying to improve.

Gohansfav1: I followed your advice! It was a great idea! A big thanks!

dndark-weaver: Thank you for the comment. I thought the mallet was cool too.

shinichi: Your reviews are short but encouraging. Thanks!

konton: I totally agree with, I think Akane should be stuck with Ranma and that's what's gonna happen!

nao-lien: Of course you're a pal! Writing may not be so easy, but to see that someone took their time to review, it makes me want to write more.

Kuno-Baby: Sorry, but I always liked Akane with the mallet. I still appreciate you reviewing.

AmnarJoey: Thanks for all the comments. Can't say I like Ranma too much like a girl though.

tkdl: Thank you! I'll try as much as I can.

seras246: Sorry if that's what it seems like. But no, he strong.

Marino: Thanks, I've always liked things that dealed with pirates.

chica87: Really? Well thank you. It's a relief knowing that some do enjoy my story.

moonkid3734: Well I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.

Thanks and another big thanks to all of you!

**A Taste of True Love**

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 8

"You know her?" Ryoga asked surprised.

"Yeah, she's-" Viveal's hand clamped over Ranma's mouth.

"She's already been captured," Viveal finished. Ranma looked at her and her eyes pleaded back.

"Really?" Ryoga asked suspiciously.

"Yea-yeah, she was," Ranma finished lamely.

"Well," he said, "I guess I'll just look for someone esle." Ryoga tucked the scroll back. "I'll see you later." Ryoga waved a good-bye.

"Hey wait!" Ryoga turned his head around. "You mind if we tag along?"

"Hm?"

"Well, heh heh, I guess we're kinda lost," Ranma confessed.

"Ah-sure, I don't mind," he said.

"Great! Come on Viveal," said Ranma. Viveal hesitatly followed the two men.

'I've got to warn Akane,' she thought. Ranma and Ryoga chatted noisly ahead of her. 'This guy is bringing alot more trouble than I thought.'

Viveal ran up to catch up to the two.

"So- uh... Ryoga, why'd you come here to look for this eh- pirate?" she asked him.

"Everyone knows that pirates are thirsty money sucking losers that love to hang out in horrid places as this one," he answered.

"Hey! That's not true! Not all pirates are like that!" she snarled. "Maybe you have just met those who are that way."

"Every pirate is the same," he said looking at Viveal, his eyes filled with silent anger. "Bloody ravenous basterds."

Viveal took a step back.

'Maybe I ought to change the subject,' she thought.

"Hey, where's Ranma?" Ryoga asked her.

Viveal turned and looked around. Ranma was no where in sight.

"Where did he go?"

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"Kin, you mind watching over the girl?" Akane asked.

"Where you going?"

After the incounter with Kuno, they had brought Ukyo to a small inn at the edge of the village. Kin sat near the window, sharpening his two swords. Ukyo was placed on the bed.

"I gotta get some food," she answered.

"Sure, take your time," he said.

"Alright," she waved, "I'll grab you something too."

Akane walked out of the door and strided down the steps. She pushed open the main doors and stepped outside.

"Let's see," she walked around, checking her surroundings. "Ah- there's a food stand," she noticed.

The small food stand was surrounded by small kids. A man stood out from the pack of kids.

Akane walked to the food stand.

"Hurry up, kid! I'm starving," Akane heard the man yell at the child ahead of him.

She raised a brow.

"How immature men are these days," she whispered to herself.

She watched to man buy an armful of pork buns. He took a bite of one and turned around.

Akane took one glance at the man's face and noticed who he was right away.

"HEY!" Ranma looked up from his food and noticed Akane. His eyes widened and he dropped the bun in his hand.

'Damn, it's that foolish woman!' Ranma stuffed a bun down his throat quickly. "Maybe I shouldn't have ditched Ryoga and Viveal for some food.'

"Stop eating!" Akane yelled at him. "Where's Viveal!"

Ranma swallowed his last bite and it roughly went down his throat. He hit his chest to get the food down and coughed.

"Where's Viveal!" she repeated angrily, now only feets away from Ranma.

"As if I'd tell you!" he answered, finally able to breathe.

"If you don't want to be beaten into a pulp, you better give me an answer!"

Ranma smirked and crossed his arms.

"You won't be able to beat me this time," Ranma said.

Akane growled angrily.

"Fine," she pushed off her feet, "You want a fight, you got one!"

Ranma's lower arm jumped to block Akane's high kick. Both of his arms rose back and forth to block Akane's kicks. Ranma quickly back off.

"You've got a good kick," he said, shaking the sting off his arms.

"Thanks," she answered, throwing a fist at Ranma. He bent back and kicked at Akane's outstretched arm.

She pulled her arm back and threw a series of punches at Ranma. He jumped from one spot to another, dodging all of the punches.

"Ha! You can't even-" Akane's fist landed on Ranma's nose. He stumbled back and rubbed his throbbing nose.

"Oww!"

"I can't even what?" Akane asked smirking.

"Feh, I was only playing," Ranma dropped his hands and got into one of his favorite kata positions. "Let's see you hit me now."

"Still as overconfident as ever," Akane got into one of her own battle stances. She waved her hand for Ranma to attack her.

He grinned and thrusted at her. Akane was barely able to sidestep him. Akane's eyes searched for him. She felt him already behind her. Akane tried a quick kick, but felt him take hold of her foot.

Ranma grabbed Akane's foot to avoid being kick. Akane twisted herself, freeing herself from Ranma's grasp. She landed on the ground and not a second later, she was back up again. Ranma's arm blocked Akane's kick and he quickly swung his own kick at her. Akane noticed the kick a bit too late and it landed on her stomach. The impact sent her flying.

Akane landed on the ground, feets away from Ranma. She coughed and blood fell to the floor. She held her stomach and pushed herself off the ground.

"Lucky kick," Akane wiped the blood from her mouth.

Ranma dusted his shirt and grinned.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," he said.

Akane growled and sped at Ranma. She swung out her arm and Ranma moved his head right on time, avoiding the impact. He swung his leg at her; Akane flipped backwards and spun around going right into a series punches and kicks. Ranma blocked and dodged her attacks and threw back his own hits. Ranma swung out his leg under her. Akane tripped over his leg and fell onto the floor.

Before Akane could get up, Ranma's lower arm pushed against her throat.

"You lost," Ranma said. Akane struggled to free herself.

"Let go of me!" she yelled.

"Admit it, you lost."

"Get off of me!" Ranma tightened his arm.

"Admit it," he said. Akane glared at Ranma.

"Fine! I lost! Now get off me!" she pushed Ranma off. Akane stood up and patted the dust off her.

"Where's Viveal!" she asked impatiently.

"I told you I won't tell you," he answered, still sitting on the ground.

"... I have your sister," Akane told him. Ranma stood up at the imformation.

"Wha? Ukyo!"

"Tell me where Viveal is and I'll give you your sister," Akane told him.

"Give me Ukyo, and I'll tell you where she is," Ranma said.

Akane signed.

"Fine, but you better tell me!" Ranma nodded. "Follow me."

Akane walked back to the inn with Ranma right behind her.

"She's in here," Akane said pushing open the door.

She gasped at what she saw. The entire room was trashed. The walls were slashed, the curtains torned, the bed ripped, furniture broken. Akane scanned the room, Kin and Ukyo were no where in sight.

"What happened?" Ranma asked.

"I-I don't know..." Akane walked into the room. Her eyes laid on a piece of paper pinned to the wall. She grabbed it.

_Kin and the girl is with us. Bring yourself out or the next time you see them, they'll be in pieces._

_ Mousse_

Ranma grabbed the paper from Akane and quickly read it himself.

"Oh no... it's them!" Ranma dropped the paper and it fluttered onto the floor.

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**Sea-chan's note: ** That's it for this chapter! I do do hope you enjoyed it. Yes, in the manga Ranma is so skilled that Akane cannot even land a hand on him, but I always liked it better if Akane was almost or as good as Ranma. Oh I have a question, many use the word/phase **lol**, but I do not know what it means. Help! If someone could tell me, I'll be so thankful. Do do remember to review!


	9. Chapter 9

**A Taste of True Love**

A hundred million thanks for all who cared to answer my request. It's nice to know what everything means. Thank you **Kohana**. Thank you **AmnarJoey**. Thank you **nefandus**. Thank you **Gangsta Spanksta**. Thank you **dreamer**. Thank you** Eternal Dark Chaos**.

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 9

Ukyo groaned and pushed herself from the ground. She shook her head to clear her vision.

'Where am I?' She grabbed onto the bars of the cell she was in. 'Did I get capture again?'

"Ugh... "

Ukyo snapped around at the sound of the voice. A man laid a few feet away from her.

"Damn those bastards," he said, rubbing his head. He looked up and noticed Ukyo. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?" he repeated.

"uh... sure... and who are you?" Ukyo asked confused.

"Oh, quite rude of me," he cleared his voice and sat up straight, "I'm Kin." He held out his hand.

"... Ukyo," she said shaking his hand. "Do you know where we are?"

"It's the Saotome pirates," he answered. "I guess they caught up to us again."

Ukyo stared at him.

"I knew you look familiar!" she shouted. "You're that guy that locked my brother and I up."

Kin knocked Ukyo's accusing hand away.

"We're in the same position right now so does it matter?"

Ukyo looked at Kin and turned away quickly.

"Hmph."

"Don't worry, Akane will surely come rescue us."

Ukyo lifted her head and glanced at Kin.

"It seems you all put alot of faith into this Akane."

Kin nodded.

"Of course, she's our captain." A dreamy smiled appeared on Kin's face.

"You like her," Ukyo noticed.

"No, I don't," Kin quickly denied.

Ukyo shrugged.

"Whatever," she said. "Let's just hope that your faith is in good hands."

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"Come on," Akane told him.

"Where are we going," Ranma asked. He turned around and could still see the trashed inn in the distance. He hurried to catch up to Akane.

After a long debate, the two agreed to be partners until they rescued Kin and Ukyo.

"I have to get something," she replied.

Akane led Ranma to her yellow ship, the Lily.

"She's pretty," Ranma commented, indicating to the ship.

"Yes, I designed her myself," Akane said proudly. Akane walked onto the ship, Ranma right behind her.

"Akane!" She glanced up and saw the young twins.

"Salt! Pepper!" Akane ran and hugged the two young pirates. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, but we couldn't find Viveal," Salt said.

"But we did see the Saotome ship," Pepper added.

"Did you now? Hey!" Akane called for Ranma.

"Don't cal me 'hey'," said Ranma. "My name's Ranma."

"Okay, Ranma," she said dragging out his name. "I'm Akane."

"Yeah, I know," he said, remembering all the times Viveal brought up her.

"Come over here." Ranma walked to them. "Where's Viveal?"

Ranma placed his hands behind his neck.

"Heh heh, you see... " The three looked at him, waiting for the answer. "I kinda lost them when I went looking for food."

"You don't know! ... And them!" Akane had both her hands clutched in tight fists. "Viveal's with somebody!"

"He's my friend, no harm will come to her," Ranma said shrugging.

Akane grunted angrily.

"Great, just great," she waved for them to follow her. They walked below deck and into a small room.

Akane pulled on one of the many fish hooks on the wall. A door swung open and she gestured for them to enter.

Ranma's mouth gaped open at what layed before him. The room was filled with weapons of all kinds, from the walls to the ceiling.

"Wow.." Salt and Pepper walked past Ranma to the back of the room. They each picked up a long sword.

"Pick a weapon, Ranma," Akane told him.

As he strode through the room a long spear drew him to it. Ranma picked it up and examined it. A beautiful gloss was applied to the stick; the tip of the spear was glistering, showing off how sharp it was. A long red tassle dangled from it.

"Good choice," Akane said from behind him.

Ranma spun the spear in his hands.

"I usually like to fight barehanded, but I guess it wouldn't hurt if I used this."

The four walked out back onto deck.

"Where did you guys see their ship," Akane asked the twins.

"Not too far from here actually," Pepper said.

"They're by the east coast shore," Salt directed.

"Alright," Akane said. "We're gonna have to split up again."

The twins nodded in agreement.

"Ranma and I will distract the crew while you guys free the prisoners."

"Can do," The twins jumped off the ship. "See you soon!"

Ranma watched them run off and turned to Akane.

"How are we gonna distract them?" he asked.

"The usual," Akane said. "A fight, come on."

Akane walked off the ship with Ranma by her side.

"Do you have a bandana I could borrow?" Ranma asked.

"Hm? Other than the one on my head, no, why?"

"Oh, no reason," Ranma placed his hands behind his back and walked ahead.

"Ranma, who taught you to fight?" Akane asked. Ranma stopped and looked back at Akane, puzzled by her question.

"My pop did," he answered simply. "You must be asking cause I beat you."

Akane ignored Ranma's comment and walked up to his side.

"My father taught me to fight too," she said. "My father's the only one who has ever beat me."

"Oh?"

Akane nodded.

"I can't believe I lost to you." She glanced at Ranma. "You're so egotistic."

"Hey! I can't help it if I'm such a strong, manly-"

"Stuff it, Ranma," Akane said, knocking her elbow on him.

"Ow, you're violent," Ranma rubbed his side.

"You seem to know the Saotomes," Akane said. "Not that I'd be surprise, you seem just like them."

"Huh?... Of course not, I... -I've just heard of them before, heh," Ranma faked a laugh. Akane looked at Ranma curiously and shrugged.

"Sure, but I'm going to give that Mousse a good beating when I see him," she said.

"You really seem to know them," Ranma pointed out.

"Those bastards," she narrowed her eyes. "I've been searching for their captain for years, but for some reason, he's always able to escape from me. When I get my hands on him-" Akane punched her fist into her hand.

'The rumors seems true,' Ranma thought. 'The Tendos really do despise the Saotomes.'

Akane suddenly pulled Ranma into a tree with her.

"What?"

"Shh," Akane put up a finger to silence him. "Look."

Ranma looked out the tree and saw a large ship.

The huge ship was painted black. The black sails were embroided with curved swords with a drop of blood at the tip.

Akane stood up straight and fixed her hair. She quickly dusted her clothes.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Uh..."

"Great, come on," Akane dragged Ranma towards the ship.

"HEY SAOTOME JERKS!" Akane placed her hands on her hips. "JERKS!"

"Ah, Akane Tendo."

A young man walked down from the ship. His long black hair blew behind his back. His bangs were cut straight across his forehead. A black eyepatch covered his left eye. He wore a tan tank under a long white robe. A light blue sash wrapped several times around his waist with the ends tied on his sides, dangling halfway down his legs. He had on dark blue boots that covered his white pants right below his knees.

"Mousse!"

"What a surprise," he said.

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**Sea-chan's note:** There's chapter nine. I guess not much happened really here... The next chapter will be much more exciting. More things will be happening, I promised. Remember that to review, it only takes a few, if not seconds. Thank you all!


	10. Chapter 10

**A Taste of True Love**

Guess what everyone! Exactly one week from now will be my BIRTHDAY! Hehehehehehe! I'm going on a one week trip to Canada! I won't have anytime to write next week cause I'm going be having some fun! Hehehe! I love cake and presents! Whell, here the tenth chapter!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 10

"Give me back the captives," Akane demanded.

"Yeah, the captives," said Ranma from behind her.

Mousse looked at Ranma.

"Don't I know you," Mousse asked him.

"Ah, no! No!" Akane turned around.

Ranma had tied his pigtail around his face and bent himself forward to look like a hunchback.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked him.

"Uh-nothing, this is how I am," he answered in a high pitched tone. Akane glared at him suspiciously. "What?"

"Where're the captives?" Akane asked Mousse ignoring Ranma.

"A simple trade off," he said," You turn yourself in and we'll free your friends."

"Mousse, Mousse, Mousse, after all the years of having me chase you, I'd think you'd known me better," in less than a second, Akane had pulled out a dagger and threw it at Mousse.

Mousse barely sidestepped the blade.

"You missed," Mousse said looking at Akane.

"Next time, I won't," Akane said. She flipped her hands opened revealing a dagger on top of every finger. "Ranma, I'll take care of Mousse. Go distract the crew."

Ranma was startled by Akane's request but nodded. Mousse ran to block Ranma but Akane moved in front of him.

"Have you forgotten, I'm still here," she said. With a quick flick in her wrist, she threw all of the daggers in her right hand at Mousse followed by the ones on her left.

Mousse jumped and twisted himself to avoid the first five daggers and flipped back several times to try to avoid the rest, landing feets away from from Akane.

"Ugh," a dagger pierced through his upper left arm. Mousse bit his lip and pulled the dagger out. He pulled his sleeve off and tore it into a ribbon. He rapidly wrapped it around his wound, using his teeth to finalize the knot.

"Let's see you do that again," Mousse said, splitting his feet into a kata position.

"No problem," Akane said.

She opened her hands and revealed another palmful of daggers. Akane twisted her hands bringing more speed to the daggers as they sped towards Mousse. As Mousse jumped, the flaps of his robe opened, taking in all the daggers. He landed and opened his robe, the daggers clinked to each other and they fell unto the floor.

Akane narrowed her eyes and kicked off at Mousse. Mousse held up his hands ready for Akane's attack. She brought her leg up to kick him. Mousse lifted his lower arm just in time to block Akane's kick. He used his other arm to try a punch at her. Akane moved and swung a deadly kick at Mousse. He jumped and avoided the kick only to recieve a painful impact from a fist that landed on his chest. Mousse held his chest and glared at Akane.

Akane lifted her head indicating for him to attack her. Mousse grunted angrily and sent a powerful series of punches along with kicks at Akane. She moved quickly dodging and blocking one attack to another. Akane's arm blocked one of Mousse's kick and took the opportunity to jabbed her knee into Mousse. Mousse stumbled back and fell on the ground. An angry shout came from Mousse as he placed his hands on the ground, spinning his body. His legs twirled and his landed on his foot.

"No more games," he said.

"I wasn't playing," Akane said.

Mousse reached into his robe and pulled out a long thick chain with a silver dart at the end. He swung the chain and it came around to wrap his arm. He wasted no time as he swung the dart at Akane. She jump kick the dart and it flew back at Mousse. He bent down and the chain swung around on top of him. Mousse edged chain and it swung back at Akane. She jumped to avoid the dart but it circled halfway and Mousse pulled it. The sudden tug cause the dart to turn a ninety degree angle aiming right at Akane's back. Akane was unaware and the dart pierced through her shoulder. Akane cried out as Mousse yanked the chain. Akane fell to her knee as blood from her shoulder dripped down her body.

'He's improve too much,' Akane thought as her breathing became rough. She stood up and grimanced at the pain.

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"Where are the prisoners!" Ranma asked as he landed on the black ship. The working crew looked up and noticed Ranma. A battle cry escaped from their lips as they headed towards him with their curved swords.

Ranma held out his spear and pointed it at them.

"It's better if you just tell me," he said. The crew ignored his comment and moved in. "Alright, I warned you."

Ranma swung the spear hard tripping the first row of men. He jumped over them and elbowed the man behind him. Ranma's fist punched hard at one man's guts, sending saliva at Ranma.

"Ugh!" Ranma wiped off the drool. "Nasty." The end of his spear impacted with several more men, causing them to fall over . Ranma ran over them and headed to the door to go below deck.

Ranma walked back as the doors swung open and dozens more men stood before him.

"Oh, great," he mumbled. The men growled angrily as they headed towards him. Half the men suddenly turned and ran the other way. "Wha?"

Ranma looked around and grinned as he saw Salt and Pepper.

Pepper ran to his side.

"Ranma, go get them, we can take care of them," he said.

"Okay," Ranma beat the men in front of him and quickly made his way lower deck. Ranma took a quick left and ran to the last door. He broke the lock and entered.

The people from the cells noticed Ranma and stuck out their hands at him.

"Hey! Boy, free us!" Ranma ignored them and looked for his sister.

"Ranma!" He looked to to left of the room. Kin and Ukyo were in a large cell by themselves. He ran to the cell.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, fine," Ukyo said. "Get us out of here."

Ranma kicked at the door. It didn't budged.

"Don't you think we already tried that," Kin said. "You need the key, it's with Mousse."

Ranma kicked the door angrily.

"Bloody hell!" Ranma yelled. "I'll be back." He ran out the prison room and up the stairs.

"Ranma, where are they!" Salt asked while jumping to avoid a slice to his stomach.

"I need a key! It's with Mousse!" Ranma punched away a man.

"Shoot! Let's go!" Pepper told him. He swung a double kick at the man in front of him and jabbed his sword to one that was sneaking behind him.

"What!"

"We're outnumbered," Pepper told him. "We won't be able to make it back to the cell with the key."

"No! I won't just leave-"

"We'll have another chance to rescue them!" Salt explained. "Come on!"

Ranma looked at the befallen bodies, more than half were struggling to stand up. He could hear many footsteps below him.

"Fine!" Ranma ran to the edge and quickly jumped off. Salt and Pepper were right behind him.

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"Our years apart have weakened you," Mousse said holding the bloody dart in his hands.

Akane growled and thrusted herself at Mousse. Akane's pain in her shoulder weaken her speed. She clutched her hand into a tight fist and sent it at Mousse. Pain soared through his face as the fist made impact. Mousse turned his head back around and his furious eyes land on Akane's.

His leg clasp onto Akane's leg and Mousse bent himself right rapidly, taking Akane's leg with him. Akane screamed as her leg was broken. Mousse used his shoulder to punt Akane.

Akane grimanced as she landed hard on her stomach. She pushed herself up. Mousse walked up to her and leaned down. He held her chin and forced her to look up at him.

"What's wrong, Tendo?" he asked. Akane snarled at him. "You still hate me?"

Akane bent her wrist and a dagger fell onto her hand.

"I'd hate you til I die!" She plugged the dagger into Mousse.

"Argh!" Mousse pushed Akane. He stumbled back, clutching his bleeding stomach.

"Akane!" She looked and saw Ranma, Salt, and Pepper running towards her. Dozens of men were behind them.

Mousse attempted a last attack and shot the chain at Akane.

Ranma saw the chain as it headed towards Akane. He raced towards her. Just as it was about reach Akane, Ranma kicked it, spending it flying back to Mousse. It wrapped around him and Mousse fell into a heap on the ground.

"I knew you were foolish the first time I met you, but now you're crazy," Ranma told Akane.

"Sh-shut up," Akane managed to mumbled. She tried to push herself of the ground but fell back down again.

Ranma looked and noticed all of Akane's wounds.

"Whoa, you really out did yourself," he leaned down and slid his arm behind Akane.

"Wha are you... doing?..."

"Picking you up, your leg is broken," he told her.

Akane couldn't help it as her head fell on Ranma's chest.

"You got her!" Salt yelled from behind. He pushed a man off his sword. "I can't take much longer."

"Yeah!" Ranma answered. The twins ran up to Ranma and they sped off.

Pepper looked behind him and was surprised to seethat the men weren't chasing them.

"I wonder why aren't they chasing us?" he asked.

"Probably taking care of their wounded captain," Ranma said.

Ranma checked his surroundings.

"I think we're far enough away," he said. They walked into a clearing. Salt took off his shirt and placed it on the ground.

"Put her here," Salt said.

Ranma bent down and slid Akane off his arms. She grunted as her leg hit the ground.

"Salt, Pepper," the twins swatted down to hear Akane better. "Take the Lily to the Parsh Islands. Bring the crew here."

"I'd stay," Pepper said. "Someone needs to take care of those wounds for you."

Akane shook her head.

"No, one person won't be able to sail the Lily," Akane said, barely above a whisper. "Please hurry, I can take care of myself."

The twins looked at each other reluctanly.

"I'm still here," Ranma said.

The twins glared at him.

"Hey! I can look after her."

Salt signed.

"I guess you will have to do," he said.

Pepper nodded his finger at Ranma.

"If you even dare let a thing happen to her-"

"No worries," Ranma said.

"Alright," Pepper said. "We'll be back as soon as we can." Akane smiled at them through her half closed eyes. They nodded and ran off.

Ranma looked at Akane, she spared a glance and then closed her eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.

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**Sea-chan's note:** I _did _try to make this chapter longer than my usual ones. I don't type as fast as I would like... takes me much longer to get a chapter done... Anyways, Ryoga and Viveal will appear in the next chapter. It is going to be my **BIRTHDAY **so a nice review would be a great present. So remember everyone, please review!


	11. Chapter 11

**A Taste of True Love**

I'm back early from my trip! It was so fun! I would tell you all everything but I don't think you'd actually want to hear it... I got a big cake, it wasn't seven layered but it was great! (big smile) Hehehehe, I really want to thank you all for wishing me a happy b-day and reviewing. I totally appreciate it. Thank you! Thank you! I was joyfull when I checked and see that I had gotten reviews from you. I have to admit, I do love getting reviews as much as I like to review myself. And of course I also want any flames anyone would like to give. I think the advice will help me along the way. I'm actually more of a "sweet" person, you know, but any comments from anyone, I will take with a wide smile. Anyways, on with the story! Enjoy!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 11

Akane's eyes cracked open to see a the sun shining brightly above her. She grimanced at the sudden pain in her arms the second she tried to get up. She noticed that her shoulder was bandaged as well as her leg.

"Hey, you're finally up," Ranma said. He walked across from a log he was sitting down on and leaned down. He was chewing on some fish. "You slept through the whole night ... hmmm...and it's past afternoon... Normal people would be knocked out for at least a week after that sort of injuries so I guess that isn't that bad actually. Here." He handed her a small fish on a stick. Ranma words were instantly forgotten at the sight of food. Akane accepted it without hesitation and instantly bit a large chunk off.

"Whoa, hold on there," Ranma grabbed the fish away and pulled the half stuck chunk of meat away from Akane's mouth. He tore off a piece and pulled the small bones out. After inspecting it, he handed it to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Akane asked him, looking at the fish meat in front of her.

"Fishes have bones you know," he answered simply. "Open wide." Akane opened her mouth and Ranma dropped the food in. Akane chewed it quickly.

"You know," Akane swallowed. "You're one of the strangest guys I've ever met."

"Why is that?" Ranma asked as he dropped another chunk of fish in her mouth.

"Why? Isn't it ouvious? I had you capture, was going to have you killed, held your sister captive, then you're tending to me now. That is strange, is it not?"

"I'm not tending to you!" he denied. A slight blush crossed Ranma's face but Akane failed to notice it. He handed Akane what was left of the fish. "Take out the bones yourself."

Akane looked at Ranma curiously and took the fish stick. Her injured shoulder denied her the access to her arm and so she just held the fish, looking at it and then at Ranma.

He signed and grabbed the fish back.

"I helped you so that you could help me free Ukyo," he stated.

"Of course, that's why," Akane said.

"Actually... I'm sure I can rescue her myself," Ranma said confidently.

"Hm? Oh, sure you can."

"If it had just been me, no you or your sidekicks, I think I would of freed them."

Akane snickered.

"You are so full of yourself."

"If you didn't follow us here, none of this would of happened," Ranma told her.

"If you didn't escape, I wouldn't have had to follow you here," Akane countered.

"Yeah, so who was the smart person who decided to capture us for a little 'disrespect'?" Ranma said the word chunk by chunk.

"Salt beat Ukyo fair and square, she had no right to take back the cabbage!" Akane slowly pushed herself up, ignoring the throbbing pain.

"Cabbage! Ugh! This started all because of a damn veggie?"

"If it was such a hassle, you should of pulled your obnoxious sister out!"

"Ukyo is not obnoxious! Those -uh- twins sure are though!"

"What did they do to you!"

Ranma and Akane face were inches apart. Their eyes contacted and they pulled apart.

'Why am I getting so worked up?" Akane asked herself. She took a deep breath. 'Control your anger.'

Ranma stuck out the fish stick to Akane.

"Here, no more bones."

Akane took the fish with her able arm.

"...Thanks," she said. "For the fish and," she indicated to her bandages, " this."

Ranma glanced at her, a small smile rising to his face.

Akane's head turned suddenly at the voices she heard. She turned to look at Ranma. He noticed the noise too.

"We should go," Ranma said. "I don't want any unwelcomed guests right now."

"Yeah," Akane said in agreement.

Ranma held out a hand and Akane grabbed it, pulling herself up. Akane grabbed Ranma's shoulder for support but let go immediately.

"I can walk myself," she said. Akane limped forward, trying to steady herself as she went.

"If you want, I can carry you," Ranma volunteered.

"I'll walk myself," Akane insisted.

Ranma shrugged his shoulders.

Ranma walked ahead while Akane slowly limped behind with the spear Ranma had picked as a cane. The two had almost crossed through the forest when a man jumped out to block their path.

"What do you want?" Ranma demanded.

Ranma didn't recieve an answer for several more men jumped out from the trees and bushes. They circled the two.

"What do you want?" he repeated.

"Give us all your valuables," a guy said.

"Whatever we have is ours," Akane stated. "Get lost."

The men snarled at them and closed in tightly.

"Akane, give me the spear," Ranma told her.

"I won't be able to stand-" Akane was cut off as Ranma pluck the spear out of her hand and picked her up. Ranma swung the spear across the men in front of him with his spare hand. They fell to the floor and Ranma quickly jumped across them with Akane in his arms. Ranma ran quickly and ignored Akane's attempts to make him let her down.

He was surprised when he stepped into a pile of leaves and a net wrapped around the two. The net was attached to a rope that instantly pulled Ranma and Akane up into the air.

"Damn, a trap," Ranma tried to tear the net but the material was too strong. He looked down and saw the group of men that had been chasing them. They picked up the spear that Ranma had dropped and looked around.

"Let's go," Ranma heard one of them say. The group took a final look around and walked away.

Ranma signed in relief.

"At least that's over," he said. "But now we're stuck in here." Ranma shifted his glance from the ground and noticed that Akane was glaring at him angrily. He noticed that their position was quite akward. Akane remained in Ranma's arms as they were pulled up by the rope. The net made the two struched up against each other in the little space they had.

"This is your fault," she blamed, trying to distant herself from Ranma.

"I was trying to save us," Ranma agrued. "I couldn't fight off that many people and still protect you."

"Protect?" Akane glared at him. "I could of fought them off."

"You couldn't even stand by yourself with that leg of yours," Ranma grunted. At the mention of her leg, Akane remembered she was wounded and the pain on her leg and shoulder rushed at her.

Akane bit her lip and held her shoulder, the wound had reopened.

"You bring nothing but trouble," Akane said through her clenched teeth.

Ranma reached behind him and pulled his pigtail to the front. He pulled off the red ribbon at the end of his hair. His pigatil broke apart and his hair tumbled in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked, him moving some of his long hair from her face.

Ranma took the long ribbon and wrapped it tightly around Akane's shoulder. Akane grimanced, trying to hold in the pain. It took longer than usual with the cramped space they were trapped in. Ranma gave the ribbon a final knot.

"There, that will at least hold the blood in for a while," he said.

Akane looked at her shoulder and then back at him.

"I don't usually thank a person twice in a day, but..." Akane glanced at him. "Thanks."

"No prob," Ranma said, pulling his hair behind him. "I wouldn't want you dying on me now."

Akane chuckled.

"You're not such a bad guy," Akane told him.

"Of cousre not."

"I just realized, you and your sister are about the same age," Akane looked thoughtful. "Are you twins?"

"No... we're not twins. Actually, we're not even blood related," Ranma confessed.

"Huh?"

"Ukyo's family adopted me when I was fourteen."

"Oh... what happened to your parents?" Akane asked.

"They... uh ...-"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Ranma smiled at her. "I was adopted too, you know?"

Ranma looked at Akane surprised.

"My father found me when I was just five," Akane faked a laugh. "Can you believe it, my parents had abandoned me."

"They left you..."

"Yeah, those bastards, they left me to die. Papa taught me to who I am today. I'll never regret getting the chance to be his daughter." Akane looked up at Ranma.

"He must be proud," he said.

"I hope he is," Akane glanced up at the darkening sky. "I hope he is."

"Your old man seems like a good guy," Ranma told her.

"He was a great guy... But papa was captured by those bloody Saotomes, probably tortured to death by them."

"What? They captured your pop?"

"When I find Genma Saotome, he's going to get what's coming to him," Akane vowed.

Ranma's shoulders dropped he rubbed his head.

'Stupid old man, what have you done?'

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"Are you sure that it was him?" said a man.

"I'm positive," Mousse said. His stomach and shoulder were wrapped thickly with bandages. Blotches of dried blood were stained onto his clothing. "He fooled at first me with a pathetic disguise at first, but after he returned from your ship, his disguise was off. I could tell by his style of fighting. I'm sure it was him, indeed."

The man placed his hand under his chin and pondered at the thought.

"Strange, what would he be doing on Kastera?"

"Genma, he was aiding the Tendos," Mousse added.

The man, Genma stood up abrutly.

"What!" The older man paced in front of the large chair he had sat in seconds before. The top of his head was bald while half way down, long white hair fell upon his shoulder. His wore a black robe with a high collar that reaced right below his chin. Thick white trimmings were seen on the robe along with a curved sword embriodered on the right of his chest. Another robe was worn inside but this one a dark blue that was tied at his hip. A comfortable white boot made from the finest of leather was on his feet.

"That boy is dead meat," Genma said, his hand forming a tight fist. "He dares to refuse to be in my crew but joins theirs!"

Genma snarled angrily and turned towards Mousse.

"Prepare the ship, we're going back to Kastera!"

Mousse bowed deeply and walked away to fulfill the demand.

Genma punched the air furiously.

"I taught you everything you know and now you're going to use it against me? That's not happening," Genma declared. He smirked evilly. "I'll see you soon, my son."

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**Sea-chan's note: ** Did I say that Ryoga and Viveal were going to appear? Sorry, but they didn't really fit into this chapter, no worries though, they'll appear soon enough. I didn't want to make Akane and Ranma fall in love too soon so they'll be slowly making their way there... Am I going too slow though?...I wonder... In alot fanfics I've read so far, the two are already in love or they'll fall in love quickly, which I don't mind at all, it's real sweet when they actually show their feelings for each other...hm... I love to update and see what you all have to say about my story but sadly, I won't be able to update for another while. My birthday trip actually isn't really over. My birthday is two days from now. I'm going camping with my family and my relatives. My brother-in-law bought me a ice cream cake with a picture of Hello Kitty on it. I love Hello Kitty. My best friend got me this really cute swimming suit. I got to open it early so that I could use it on our trip. Hehehe, sorry I guess I got carried away. It's nice to hear that you like my story. A big thanks to all who read my story and a huge one for those who took their time to review, what would I do without you all. (blows a big kiss) I'll update as soon as I get back.


	12. Chapter 12

**A Taste of True Love**

A happy hello to you all! I'm finally updating. Usually I like to keep my story up to date with at least one chapter per day, but I have to admit that I've been getting lazy. I came back from my camping trip a few days ago, it was very fun. We got lost for a while when we went hiking but luckily we found our way back. Hehehe, as always, a big thank you to all those we reviewed. A GREAT BIG THANKS! For those who asked why Mousse is with the Saotomes, instead of with the Amazons, it will be revealed in future chapters soon, so please be patient. Oh, and he does not have glasses. I think he's actually cute ignoring the fact that he is kinda a ditz in the manga. Now for the story!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 12

"So you've spent almost half your life looking for this man?"

Akane nodded.

"I've tracked him down several times but he always escapes somehow," she said.

Ranma looked at Akane; her eyes seemed distant and determined.

"I won't rest until I find him," she swore.

"I don't even know why I'm talking to you," Akane said, adjusting herself for more comfort. "You're as much of a fool as that Mousse."

"Hey!" Ranma glared at Akane.

"I'm just stating what's true." Akane unraveled the white ribbon on her lower arm and bit a part of it in her mouth. She wrapped her hand around Ranma's clump of hair and combed her hand through it.

"What are you doing?" Ranma asked curiously. Akane looked up at him and started to braid his hair from the side.

"Just trying to pay back a bit of my dept," she said.

"You don't owe me anything," Ranma told her. She shrugged and continued to braid his hair. She took the ribbon from her mouth and tied it around the end, leaving a tail at the end.

Akane patted it and dropped it onto Ranma's shoulder.

"There," she said looking at her handy work. His ponytail had large cunks hanging out and most of it was loose except for towards the end where Akane had tugged the hair together tightly.

"Great job," Ranma said sarcastictly, picking up his pigtail. He swung it in a small circular motion and the ends loosened, a strand falling out of the braid.

"You broke it," Akane said to him.

Ranma rolled his eyes.

"Sure," he threw the pigtail behind him.

Akane gave a yawn.

"We really have to get out of here," she said pulling on the net.

"Uh-huh," Ranma agreed. "But this this is pretty strong." He tried to tug the ropes on the net.

"Yeah, seem so," Akane rubbed her neck. "And I feel my neck starting to ache." She nodded her head side to side. Her eyes slowly closed and her head fell on Ranma's chest. The words, "I hate this place...", tumbled from her lips before she fell asleep.

Ranma signed deeply and looked at Akane. His hand came up and he brushed it slightly over her cheek. Akane moved and Ranma jerked his hand away.

"Papa..." Akane snuggled herself closer to Ranma.

'What a strange girl,' Ranma thought, glancing at Akane. He looked up into the night sky. 'She'll kill me when she finds out who I am.'

Ranma leaned against the net and soon, the two were sleeping soundlessly under the bright moon above them. The night quickly passed as they hug from the tree.

Akane closed her eyes tighter to try to block the shining light. After her failed attemped, she blinked her eyes open to see the sun shining brightly through the trees above her. She tilted her head to the side and was surprised to see Ranma's head drooped on her shoulder. Akane quickly pushed his head off.

Ranma groaned and opened his eyes.

"Whadda you do that for?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"You were sleeping on me!" Akane told him angrily.

"You fell alseep on me first!" Ranma agrued, now fully awake.

"I did not!"

"Did too!" Ranma said.

"I so did not and would not!"

"You-" Ranma was cut off as the net was suddenly cut and the two fell. Ranma twisted himself and landed flat on his feet. He looked behind him and was quite surprised to see Dice. Akane was in his arms, unharmed from the fall.

"Thanks," Akane said. "You're back quickly."

"The crew decided to follow you guys here since you were gone longer than usual and so we met the Lily halfway on sea. It took us much less time getting here," Dice told her. He looked up at the tree where a string still hung and then at Akane. "And it was a good thing we got here sooner."

Akane smiled.

"Dice, this is Ranma, he was our recent captive," she said jesturing towards him. "He helped me while Salt and Pepper came to get you guys."

"And Ranma, this is Dice," Akane said.

Dice gave Ranma a nod which he returned with his own.

"Come on then," Dice told Akane. "Let's get your wounds properly treated." Dice walked ahead with Akane still with him. He turned around and saw that Ranma remained where he was. Dice looked at Akane.

"Come on Ranma," she said. He shrugged and followed the two out of the forest. It didn't take long for them to come up to a large ship on the shore.

Ranma's eyes widen at the sight. It was a bit smaller than the Saotome's ship but so much life could be seen just from looking at the color and the beautiful flower painted on it. He was quite amused as he walked behind them up onto the ship.

Salt and Pepper saw Akane and quickly ran over to hug her. The other crew members quickly ran to be reunited with their captain. Akane patted them and grinned widely. Ranma could tell she was very joyous to be united with her crew again.

"Come on guys, give her some room," Dice told them. The crew parted and Dice took Akane below deck.

"Hey, Ranma," Salt said coming over to him. Pepper waved at him. "Thanks for taking care of Akane."

"No prob," Ranma said.

"She's not always easy to care for," Pepper added.

Ranma gave an agreeable nod.

"You try to save her and she kicks the hell out of you," Ranma said.

Salt and Pepper laughed.

"Come on," Pepper slapped Ranma on the back. "We'll show you to a room. Then we could have lunch."

Ranma grinned at the sound of food and followed the twins.

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"I found him and tried to recapture him, but ..."

"He beat you didn't he?" Dice asked, looking at Akane.

"No! He did not!" Akane agrued.

"Kane, I know when you're lying and you are now," Dice said walking to the other side of the room to pour some water into a mug. "Here."

Akane took the mug and gluped down a large amount..

"He just sorta... ah-caught me unguarded," Akane finished lamely.

"Yeah, right. Kane, you know why you lost," Dice came and sat on the bed next to Akane. "You've been lacking in your trainings with these chases of the Saotomes."

Dice glared at Akane. Akane felt something bad coming her way any second.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind training with Ranma."

Akane looked at Dice as if he had lost his mind.

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**Sea-chan's note: **This chapter is quite short and I'm sorry! I'm really busy. I'll update as much as I can but I have much to do. I just got a job so I can save up enough dough to trade my laptop for a more updated one. The really bad thing is that school is starting and I have full classes. I'm gonna be a senior next year. (I'm in high school) I'll be working after I come home from school too so I'm gonna be so worn out. I could tell already. But I'll try as soon as I can to get the next chapter up and I'll try to make it longer as well. Thank you ALL so much with a big red cherry on top! Remember to review now! Bye-bye!


	13. Chapter 13

**A Taste of True Love**

Another great big thanks to all who had reviewed my last chapter. Sorry about my spelling, grammer, writing, etc., etc., but English is not my first language. I'm actually asian. I guess it's kind of sad considering I'm gonna be graduating soon, huh? My notebook does not have spell check so I also can't check my spelling. I'll go back and correct my mistakes though, k? (smile) I'm not trying to come up with excuses, but I'm still in the process of learning to better my English.

Now it's time for my special special special thank yous to all of my special special special reviewers:

Princess Kohana: A big big big thank you to you! You have reviewed everyone of my chapters so far and am I glad I have to as a reviewer! You're so so sweet and I love reading your reviews. I hope you continue to read my syory til the end though it may take a while now since summer is over. xoxo

AmnarJoey: Of course I appreciate all of your comments. Another apology for my poor writing skills. I would try to make my chapters longer but that would take me longer to update and I do love to update. I have a bought a keyboard typing system that may help me type faster. Longer chapters just may be coming up. A very big thanks to you!

ranmaakane: I'm glad you like this couple because they are my absolute fave! More scenes of them together will absolutely be coming up! Thank you for reviewing!

yukasa: You're so cute! Thank you for going back to wish me a happy b-day. I thought that was just so... cute! A big thanks to your advice!

Gangsta Spanksta: I would answer your questions but I was a little confused. Do you like Nodoka? Personally, I think she's quite a hassle, especially for Ranma. I could add her though... Thank you thank you thank you for reviewiing.

shinichi: I have to agree with you there. I like stories where they don't fall in love too soon. Some it's really quite good, but a few are dissapointing. A big THANKS to you!

silverfireblissgirl: Thank you for reviewing. Hehehehehe, you're quite funny. As I said, Mousse's current position will be revealed and Genma is the bad guy. It's nice to know someone agrees with me that Akane looks better than Ranma's girl form.

nefandus: I really look forward to reading your reviews. You're a junior, huh? You must be quite smart if you have homework during the summer. I do feel for you. My sister has homework also and she's finishing it up at the last moment, right now! Hehehe, I'm sorry that my updates have been slow. I do appreciate your reviews. A GREAT thank thank thank YOU to you!

CharmedPoet: You're charming for sure! Loved your sweet but short poem. It made me happy to read it! Many xoxo for reviewing!

Thank you for all reviewing my story up this far. I enjoy reading all of your reviews. (sign) If only more people like you reviewed... Not trying to bore you out now, so on with the story!

_Sea-chan_

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I sure can write about them!

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Chapter 13

"Not a chance!"

"I'm not asking you to jump off a cliff or anything," Dice told him again. "The most is a few days."

Ranma paced around the blue painted room pondering on the request. He had just woken up from a sleepless night and Dice had came knocking on the door. He was trying to convince Ranma to train Akane and Ranma was roughly putting his feet down in objection.

"Why did she even agree to do this!" Ranma asked, his hands in the air.

"Actually, heh, I sorta forced her to agree," Dice confessed.

"But she can take care of herself already," Ranma tried saying.

"That's besides the point. If you help her, we'll have a better chance of going up against the Saotomes when we face them again. You've heard of their cruelness and barbaric-like behavoirs, it'll actually make these seas safer if we're able to rid of them."

"I just-"

"Ranma, I was told that you actually had the pleasure of meeting these... pirates. They kidnapped Kin and your sister and what for? Bait!"

"Fine!" Ranma took a big whiff of air and let it go loudly. "I'll train the girl, but if she even-"

"Yes, yes," Dice waved his hand knowingly in front of him. "Training will start this afternoon." With that, Dice left the room, the door slamming after his leave.

'Great, just great,' Ranma thought. 'Why do I always have to be the one who gets into these sort of things?'

He took his two red belts from a hook on the wall and put them crossing over each other over his white tee. Ranma slipped in his boots and looked at himself in the small mirror above a small desk near the small twin bed.

Ranma looked at his hair and noticed that it was still in the braid that Akane had attempted to do. Though it had gotten even worse thoughout the night, the white ribbon at the end had held on. Ranma grabbed the small piece of fabric, his hair falling apart, and unknotted the bow. He held the ribbon up, looking at it though the mirror. Memories of the short time they spent together flushed back. A pink hue appeared on Ranma's cheeks.

'Maybe training with Akane won't be so bad afterall.'

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Akane kicked the stick below her feet and watched it fling off into a nearby bush. She signed angrily.

'If he doesn't come in the next minute, I'm leaving!' Akane concluded. She looked up and was blinded by the brightly shining sun above. Akane placed the side of her hand on her forehead and checked around.

"Well, that's a minute," Akane said. "Means that I could head back now." She was just about to walk over a bush when a hand grabbed her shoulder. Akane wasted no time to swing her arm at the offender.

"Hey, hey! It's me!"

Akane relaxed when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here, Pepper?" Akane asked.

The red-dressed boy held up a basket.

"Snakes," he said. "They're for dinner."

"Ugh, " Akane made a face. "I hate snakes."

Pepper laughed at her and placed the basket down, covering it with a lid he held on his other hand.

"Ranma's not here yet," Pepper noticed.

"Yeah, and I was just about to ditch him," Akane told Pepper.

"I don't see why you have to train with him when you still so injured," Pepper said, looking at Akane's still bandaged arm and leg.

"I could do anything right now," Akane said stubbornly. "Besides," she lifted her arm up,"I'm as good as healed-AH!" Akane jumped back at the sudden pain and lost her footing, landing herself on the ground. Something had poked the back of her injured shoulder.

"I wouldn't be calling that healed," a familair voice said.

Akane looked up and dread filled her at the sight of Ranma.

"Happy day," Akane said sarcastically. "The egotistic man is here."

Ranma grunted.

"I didn't recall having to want to spend my day with you either," Ranma said.

Pepper looked at the two and decided it would be a good idea to leave. He picked up his basket of snakes and quietly shunked into the forest without the agruing couple noticing.

Akane rolled her eyes and pushed herself up with one hand. She steadied herself on her feet.

"Yeah, as if," Akane dusted some dirt off her. "Why don't you just go back into the forest and I'll pretend you didn't bother to show. That way, we'll both be happy."

"No way," Ranma told her. "Dice told me to train you and that's what I'm gonna do."

Akane's grin dropped from her face.

"What's the use? I mean, what can I learn from you and I already do not know?"

Ranma's lips formed a smile and he moved his hands around in a slow kata.

"Grace," Ranma's hands moved into the air with his legs below following in a beautiful motion. "Speed," Ranma's kata quickly changed and his hands and legs flashed before Akane's eyes. One without skills would not be able to even see Ranma's fast moving limbs. "And strength," Ranma took a step forward and and stomped his foot on the trunk of a large tree. Removing his foot, Akane saw the print of his foot left on the tree. A second later, a crack formed from the print. It spend quickly around the tree and soon the oversized plant was laying on the ground.

Ranma stood next to the befallen tree, his smile even wider than before.

"Grace, speed, and strength? Ha! I have all of those." Akane took her unwounded hand and formed it into a tight fist. "Strength," Akane brought her fist from below her waist in a powerful motion at the tree in front of her. It instantly cracked and fell to the side. Before it could touch the ground, Akane's leg and swung out and kicked the tree. It flew up into the sky. Akane smirked at Ranma as the tree fell back down in between them. "Speed."

Ranma looked at Akane and barely clapped his hands together.

"Not too bad," he brought his hand up in a slow motion that held alot of power behind it. "And grace?"

"Speed and strength, that's all I need," Akane said.

Ranma shook his head.

"Watch," Ranma told her. Ranma's legs slowly spread out, his hands going in separate ways. His hands moved gracefully around his body while his feet led him around the small clearing they were in. Akane's eyes watched in fascination as Ranma twirled and twisted slowly without breaking a beat in his elegant kata. It seemed like she was actually watching him do a beautiful dance. Ranma's hands clapped together loudly and Akane snapped back to reality.

Ranma could tell Akane had been quite impressed by his performance.

"So?"

"So what?" Akane agrued. "Grace is weak." She pulled her hand up to the air and and brought it back down in a fist. "I have no need for it."

Ranma signed.

'Damn, this girl's stubborn,' he thought to himself. He walked behind Akane. He took hold of her uninjured hand.

Akane looked up in surprised and was about to make a remark but Ranma quieted her with a ,"Just follow what I do."

Ranma slid his hand under Akane's, slowly leading her in a simple kata. Akane's head lifted up and glanced at Ranma.

"Follow my steps too," Ranma told her when he noticed she was looking at him. Akane's eyes instantly shifted to his feet.

Akane watched Ranma's feet as he moved around, his foot distancing itself from the other and then back. Akane moved her feet to follow Ranma's but her unhealed leg made it hard for her to move as she really wanted.

"Good," Ranma said. "Watch your hand."

Akane glanced up and saw that Ranma still had his hand on top of her hand. She noticed that her heart was beating faster than normal and her face was quite hot. She could feel butterflies entering her stomach as her back brushed against Ranma as he led her through the kata.

Akane took a deep swallow.

'What's going on?' she asked herself. 'I don't like what's happening...'

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**Sea-chan's note: **Here's chapter 13. Hehehehe, I hope you enjoyed it. The other characters will appear soon enough so no worries. I don't really like my job. I've been having to work alot, sometimes, I come home around 12 o'clock! I usually go to sleep at least at 10. I thought I would like working as a cashier in a retail store but it's really not as fun as it should be. Next week, I'm starting school. (sigh) I don't really want to graduate this year yet... Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING TIL THIS FAR!THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU! I can't say it enough! Remember to review this chapter or the others if you haven't yet! I'll update soon. -


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